“I would definitely root for Usyk, even now,” Povetkin said in interview with Grigory Drozd. “Because he is a Slav. Something happened to Sasha that we do not know. I don’t have any negative feelings towards him. He lives in this country, and we do not know what is going on there and how it is going on. He decided so, so be it. I won’t swallow it, of course. When we see each other, I will definitely ask him why he allowed himself such insults.
Oleksandr Usyk, who holds the WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles, last month refused to continue talks to fight reigning WBC world boxing champion Tyson Fury, calling the British team’s demands unacceptable.
After that, representatives of the World Boxing Council announced that the Ukrainian would go on a mandatory defense against Briton Daniel Dubois, who won the WBA regular world title in June last year.